‘Where’s my jacket?’ Guo developing smart tech for household objects

Working to develop a truly "smart home," Nebraska Engineering researcher Hongzhi Guo is using National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop wireless communications technology that would create a digital twin of your home, providing detailed information about such things as the location and status of everyday items like clothes, books and pantry items.

"The Internet of Things is a pretty mature technology in that we can connect sensors," said Guo, assistant professor in the School of Computing. "But still, there is a big gap. A lot of items do not have a digital ID. We don't know their status. If we want to build a virtual model for our life, then we need a technology to connect it with everything in the physical world. This technology would fill that gap."

Guo, who joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in January 2023, transferred a nearly $500,000 award from NSF's Faculty Early Career Development Program to Nebraska from his former institution, Norfolk State University. He is in the first year of the project, which aims to expand the range and function of near-field communication (NFC). It's the short-range wireless technology that enables contactless pay, card-access building entry and e-ticketing. Guo envisions an expanded range of NFC applications, including digital twinning, a smart postage stamp system and an enhanced "Internet of Clothing," where wearable tags embedded in fabric transmit information.